Trainer who abused walking horse faces another trial

Apr. 2, 2013

Jackie McConnell.

Convicted walking horse abuser Jackie McConnell will face a Fayette County jury in July on 22 counts of animal cruelty related to an undercover video of him shot in a Collierville stable.

McConnell pleaded guilty in a Chattanooga federal court last year on charges stemming from the same incidents. A judge ordered him to pay $75,000 and serve three years’ probation.

He already was facing charges in Fayette County General Sessions Court, said District Attorney Mike Dunavant. “He could have walked in nine months ago, pled guilty and been done with this,” Dunavant said.

Instead, because McConnell pleaded not guilty, charges were bound over to a grand jury. It issued indictments Monday.

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